Talon Esports failed to soar in the DPC SEA Open Qualifier as it got clipped by Malaysian team and eventual champions Ragdoll, 2-1, in the best-of-three semifinals on Sunday, Nov 21.
All eyes were set on the newly formed Dota 2 squad which featured some of the big names led by former Evil Geniuses star Tal “Fly” Aizik and former TNC Predator Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte. The team, however, failed to live up with the expectations in its first tournament as Ragdoll won convincingly against the Philippine-based squad.
After flexing its might against Team Veteran, Alpha Pro Esports, and Dreammaker in the earlier rounds, Talon got stunned by the Ragdoll with The International 2019 participant Cheng "vtFαded" Jia Hao leading the charge.
The Malaysian team drew first blood in the series on a 32-7 drubbing in Game 1.
Despite the shock loss, Talon saved some blushes and managed to get back on track with a 33-11 retaliation in Game 2 with Damien "kpii" Chok spearheading the attack.
The Game 2 loss however didn’t seem to rattle Ragdoll as it embarked to another impressive win, knocking out the highly anticipated Talon Esports from the tournament via a 21-10 win in Game 3.
READ MORE: Talon Esports out to shock SEA region with Fly, Gabbi on board
Meanwhile, on the other bracket, another Philippine team was eliminated from contention.
InterActive Philippines, after beating Orcas, Just Error and No Chidori in the early stages, bowed out of the qualifier following a sweep loss, 2-0, at the hands of Myanmar team KOBOLDS.
Ragdoll then went on to beat KOBOLDS in the Grand Finals, 2-0, to secure a spot and join the likes of Boom Esports, Nigma Galaxy SEA, Polaris Esports and Lilgun in the DPC SEA lower division.
Talon and InterActive PH will still have a chance to punch a ticket to the lower division in the second open qualifier set on Nov 23-24.